Beit Marrash Aleppo

... the bus left. Minutes later though a more modern looking bus came and then I saw my passport being handed over to the driver. So I boarded the bus, and later before we moved off we were given back our passports. I sighed a sigh of relief but that wasnt the end of my passport story. <br><br>On the bus, a guy came and sat next to me even though there were alot of empty seats about. He was wearing a white shirt, track pants and flip flops and didnt have any luggage with him. We ...

... of Syrian border crossings, as Matt had been denied a multiple entry visa and was anticipating having to pay baksheesh for a third time if he crossed into Jordan, having previously been to Turkey on this trip. <br><br>After a few drinks I headed out to finish uploading the photos for my joint blog posting with Rachel, but not before agreeing with Cath and Reub to hire a driver for the next day to take us for some of the sights west of Aleppo, towards the Turkish ...

... the most friendliest and hospitable people we have encountered so far on this trip. Everywhere you turn you get a "Hello" and "Welcome to Syria" and they genuinely mean this. <br><br>The past couple of day we have spent wandering the covered souqs of Aleppo and eating some of the most amazing felafel's, kebabs, shwarma (grilled minced lamb kebabs) and pastries things. Our favorite felafel of the trip only cost us 20SYP about 22p. We have ...

... was booked, along with the following 4 hotels in my trusted Lonely Planet... but eventually someone approached me leaving one of the hotels and brought me to Casa de los Andelos (somethingl ike that at least) which turned out to be phenomenal. It was a family establishment, and after I dropped off my bag I was brought downstairs to eat breakfast with the family and a Soran, another backpacker from the UK. Ronni, an Iraqi now living in Turkey, spoke great English and offered to ...

... to my map to show where I was trying to go which of course was no use because it was all in English. After a lot of animated Arabic and hand signals, I somehow I managed to understand from him that the bus had dropped us off at station on the city outskirts, rather than in town. Great. I tried mentioning one of the landmarks near my hotel (Bab Antakya, which means "Gate Antakya"), and luckly this seemed to register with him ...

... I soon made my mind up that i wasnt gettin one and sat like a dick while my new mate khalil got the works. I left him after that but he text me later on sayin he was out for a drink but i couldnt be *****, plus i had told him and his friends i was scottish as i had the idea there would be a bit of angst against england with it having its tongue up the USAs rectom, and they knew more about scotland than me. Bad bit of ********ting there, so from then on ...

... was keen for some orýental musýc and ýt was nýce.. The least anýmated performance ý thýnk ý have ever seen (ýt worked better when ý closed my eyes) but ýt was nýce to see somethýng lýve wýth completely dýfferent ýnstruments to those ý am used to.. the guy doýng percussýon wýth the tamborýne was quýte ýmpressýve - ý never knew the tamborýne was so versatýle!! The next day ý took the traýn to Lattakýa fýrst thýng ýn the mornýng after a late nýght..aparently the trýp ýs ...

... so has the script and the currency. I am somewhat confused. My favourite cities in Turkey are Mardin and Hatay. They both have warm people, interesting cultural mix, delicious food and a deep history. What am I trying to accomplish through this journey? -understand the Middle East and Asia -be spontaneous -sort yourself out -beat your fear -live modestly -read and write. Incredible amounts of propaganda. al-Esad Jr's photos and statues everywhere.

... série d'heureux événements, de sympathiques aventures ou autres merveilles ponctuelles. Plusieurs rencontres sympathiques, comme toujours ici, avant une espèce d'emballement incroyable ce dimanche soir. D'abord le hammam, bain public à la turque que je m'offrai, avec le massage violemment reposant, avant qu'un de ses clients me fassent des avances assez explicites ...

... need. There is absolutely no pressure or pestering to take part in excursions once they are initially offered when you arrive at the hotel. We opted to accept the services of his friend to drive us in his nice car to Palmyra and after a night there, onwards to Damascus. For a fee of about £100 he arranged for two of us to be driven all day across the desert in a vintage 1950's cadilac in mint condition, and with air-con, and allowing smoking, to ...